Bloomberg News

Construction-Jobs Loss Reignites Debate on Highway Bill

By James Rowley
June 01, 2012

The loss of 28,000 construction jobs
in May, the sector’s worst drop in two years, reignited a debate
in Congress about stalled legislation to extend federal highway
construction and transportation programs set to expire June 30.

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi demanded that Speaker
John Boehner allow a vote in the Republican-controlled House on
a two-year, $109 billion measure passed by the Democratic-
controlled Senate on a 74-22 bipartisan vote.

Congress has approved a series of short-term extensions of
federal highway and transportation programs, and the latest ends
June 30. House Republicans are demanding a provision to allow
construction of the Keystone XL pipeline linking Canadian oil
fields to Gulf Coast refineries.

Republicans should “stop stalling on the transportation
bill, create jobs now, bring it to the floor,” Pelosi of
California told reporters in Washington today. The “shameful”
loss of construction jobs last month makes it “urgent for our
country to build our infrastructure,” she said.

The 28,000 drop in construction jobs last month is the
largest in two years, according to an analysis by the Associated
General Contractors of America. The trade group also said a 1.4
percent drop in public construction spending in April
constrained overall construction growth that month to 0.3
percent.

Pelosi and second-ranking House Democrat Steny Hoyer of
Maryland called a press conference after Boehner and House
Republican leaders lambasted President Barack Obama’s economic
record.

April’s Gain

The Republicans cited the weak May employment numbers as
further evidence that the president’s policies failed to spur
the job growth. The Labor Department reported that the number of
jobs grew by 69,000 last month, less than the most pessimistic
forecast and smaller than April’s revised gain of 77,000.

Boehner of Ohio made an election-year plug for Republican
proposals to cut spending, reduce regulation and avoid a year-
end tax increase when Bush-era tax cuts expire.

“Elections have consequences and we believe that the
policies that we have advocated over the last three and a half
years would have our economy in a much better place than it is
today,” the speaker told reporters.

Boehner said passing an extension of federal transportation
programs “would put more Americans back to work.” Republicans
are demanding inclusion of the Keystone pipeline provision
because the project “would create nearly 20,000 jobs
immediately,” he said.

Permit Rejected

Earlier this year, Obama rejected TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s
permit application to build the pipeline, citing environmental
concerns in Nebraska. The company has reapplied and Nebraska
officials are reviewing the rerouted pipeline’s potential impact
on an environmentally sensitive region.

Hoyer said that even though many senators support the
pipeline, “it did not hold them up from passing” the highway
bill.

Pennsylvania Republican Bill Shuster said yesterday that
Senate Democratic negotiators have been “a brick wall” when
Republicans have demanded their provisions.

Unless a deal is reached by June 30, Shuster said Congress
would consider another short-term extension. “I don’t think
anyone wants to see a halt to construction across the country,”
he said.

Texas Representative Pete Sessions, chairman of the House
Republican campaign effort, said Democratic claims that
Republicans were obstructing the highway bill to hurt Obama’s
re-election chances were “hogwash.”

Sessions said Boehner is working toward an agreement on the
highway legislation because he “understands how important
transportation infrastructure is on a long-term basis.”

The bill is S. 1813.

To contact the reporter on this story:
James Rowley in Washington at
jarowley@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Jodi Schneider at
jschneider50@bloomberg.net